


The Fine Art of Pigtail Pulling

by Medie



Category: Veritas: The Quest
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-04
Updated: 2010-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medie/pseuds/Medie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Just shut up and kiss me, stupid."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fine Art of Pigtail Pulling

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://storydivagirl.livejournal.com/profile)[**storydivagirl**](http://storydivagirl.livejournal.com/) who wanted 5 times Calvin and Niko (girl!Nikko) kissed.

5.

It's a spur-of-the-moment decision. The big guy with the soul patch is looking too close, too much interest in his eyes, and Niko just goes with it.

"Honey!"

With her best Valley Girl grin, Niko hurls herself down the stairs and straight into into Calvin's arms.

Or, at least, that's the plan. It's more like she hurls herself down the stairs, slamming smack into him, her arms wrapped tight around his shoulders while Cal stands there like an idiot.

Which, you know, on most days would just be another day at the office, except, yes. The huge guy most likely packing heat is still watching them and Niko so cannot sell this on her own.

Snuggling closer, she presses her face against his neck (the jerk smells _good_) and mutters, "Play along, dumbass, or we're both dead." She gives him a half a second to catch up then pulls back, catching his face between her palms, and lays one on him.

It takes another half second (god, _moron_, honestly, her Dad has to be insane for thinking this guy's a genius. Pretty, yes, but on his last brain cell? Totally.) and then one of Cal's hands curls into her hair while the other slides down her back.

Better, but if he cops a feel, she'll break his legs.

4.

Vincent smirks. It's kind of one of his standard smirks (she's been working on cataloging them for years, it's a surprisingly extensive project) except there's a weird nostalgic thing happening. Oh god, if he's having one of those 'our little girl's all grown up moments' she is going to punch him. She doesn't care if he's a master of every kick-your-ass-fu out there, she _will_ punch him.

Spending a month in intensive care would totally be worth it.

Except this is Vincent. He folds his arms, grinning just a little wider, and nods at her. "If you father sees you in that dress, Niko -- "

She smirks back, shimmying a little in the sleek fabric. "What?" She turns around to look in the mirror. "It's perfect. Nothing wrong with it." Nothing but it being a little too tight, a little too red, and a lot too short.

Her legs look fucking _fabulous_ and Niko loves it. Her dad would stroke out if he saw it, Vincent's totally right there, but it's not like he will. What with him being in Geneva until next week.

Boring conferences can be such a bitch.

"I trust you've covered your tracks appropriately," Vincent says from behind her.

"Uh huh." Niko turns to her bed and drops to her knees. Somewhere underneath her bed are the most serious sweet ass 'fuck me' shoes ever. She's been saving them for something special and this dress totally counts.

There's a box just out of reach and Niko mutters an oath, stretching for it.

"Hey kid, your da-- Holy shit, what the fuck are you wearing?" Cal says over something that might be Vincent snickering. "No, no, let me rephrase that, what are you almost wearing, where the fuck is the rest of it, and how much is your dad going to kill me when he finds out about it?"

Triumphant, Niko closes fingers around the box and pulls it out. She gets up and sits on her bed, aware the dress rides up to 'so getting busted by the cops' indecent. She stretches out one leg, then the other, purely for Cal's wide-eyed benefit as she puts on the shoes.

"Close your mouth, Calvin," she says. "You like?"

Calvin gulps and looks at Vincent. "There's no way to answer that which won't result in my violent death, is there?"

Vincent shrugs, still grinning. Half the time, Niko thinks that the reason he switched sides was for the laughs. God knows, he seems to find them all _hilarious_. "Either way you look at it, you're fucked, man." He claps a hand on Calvin's shoulder and beats a hasty exit.

One thing no one will ever be able to accuse Vincent of is stupidity.

Calvin, however --

Niko gets up. In the heels, she's eye to eye with him. "Don't worry, Cal," she says, patting his cheek. "I wasn't looking for an answer."

"You, uh," Calvin gulps. It's totally not awesome and thrilling as hell to see him this freaked out. Really. Niko's not getting just that giddy over the fact she's pretty much blown out every brain cell he had left. Granted, that's not many, but _still_. "You sure you should be going out like that?"

She laughs. "Of course not." Stepping into his personal space, she lets her body press against him as she leans in to kiss him. "That's the whole point."

3.

She saves _him_, got it? When the door splinters, giving under the force of repeated blows, she saves him. Whatever bullshit story Cal comes up with later, she wants that one made clear right off the fucking bat.

She, Nicole Zond, saves him, Calvin Banks. Fingers curl into his shirt, hauling him up and off the couch within seconds of the first blow. Cal's groggy from the painkillers, a little too slow and a little too stupid, but Niko doesn't care or slow down long enough to think about worrying.

She manhandles him in the direction of the fire escape. Down's not an option. They'll have that covered, so up it is. "Come on, genius," she mutters. "I let you get killed, eighteen or no, my dad'll have my ass and I'll be grounded until I'm _dead_."

Opening the window, she pushes Cal out. He tries to say her name, looking at her with eyes that are unfocused and a little hazy. Niko ignores the way her heart clenches with fear. "You've gotta focus, Calvin," she says, just this side of pleading. "We have to get the hell out of here."

She hears the door splinter, finally crumbling, and bites her lip. Fucking hell. "Here's hoping you don't remember this in the morning," she mutters, yanking Cal into a kiss. It's messy, sloppy, there might be tongue, and she sure as hell grinds up against something, but either way, he's sputtering and shocked when she finally pulls back.

"_Move_."

He does.

2.

She doesn't dream about it often. She used to. She used to a lot. She'd had more than a few phobias, nightmares every night, the usual host of issues a kid with her background could expect. Her dad had paid for a legion of therapists and psychiatrists, and Niko'd learned to bullshit them all five seconds through the door.

Either way, the dreams faded, the phobias conquered, and Niko forgot all about it.

Except when the dreams aren't quite so faded. There's light all around them and, somewhere, Niko hears her mother's cry. It's not quite a scream, no pain, it could even be her name. She doesn't know, she can't hear, but terror all her own claws at her throat and she tries to run.

She needs to find her mother. She needs to. Mom's right there. She's supposed to take care of her. Dad said --

Niko wakes up, screams still caught in her throat, sheets tangled around her legs and hands on her shoulders. She catches a glimpse of someone leaning over her and she reacts.

Namely, she lashes out. Her fist connects with flesh and there's a shout, a _familiar_ shout, that flesh and the body possessing it goes sprawling to the floor.

"Son of a _bitch_, Niko!"

Oops.

Niko turns on the light, blinking quickly to clear the spots, and finds Calvin sprawled out on her bedroom floor with a hand on his jaw.

Double oops.

"What the fuck was that?" he asks, fingers working his jaw.

"Sorry," Niko says and, wow, she definitely is rattled. Apologizing to Cal? Yeah, she's seriously freaked out. "I, uh, I had a nightmare."

"Yeah," he says, sitting up, "I kind of figured that part out."

Niko tugs at the the sheets, untangling them. She doesn't even take advantage of the way Cal's eyes linger on her legs. Just pulls them up and looks at him. "Seriously, man, I'm sorry. I, uh, didn't mean to disturb you."

She's just glad there's no one else here. That none of the others are here. Moreover that Vincent's on the other side of the planet with her father. If they were closer -- she cringes at the thought. Her dad's oblivious more than he's not (she gets it, she does, but she's still not quite okay with it) but Vincent's got serious radar. Freaky, freaky radar and she's not in the mood to talk about it.

"Disturb me?" Cal asks. He finally gets up. "You probably woke up the whole city block."

Niko almost throws a pillow at him, but settles for hugging it instead. "Yeah, well, they can file a noise complaint later." She tries to relax. "Feel free to leave anytime you like."

Calvin starts to go, but stops. He looks sideways at her and, oh god, he's got that look. Niko closes her eyes to avoid the impending 'Conversation' but knows it won't be enough.

"Niko -- "

"Forget it, Calvin," she says, still not looking at him. "It's not like we both don't know I'm seriously fucked up. Nightmares about my mother's tragic and horrible demise shouldn't be a surprise. It's not for me." She opens her eyes, but doesn't look at him. Instead, she stares at the blankets before her, wishing she could just pull them over her head and melt away.

This? Quite possibly the most horrifically embarrassing moment of her _life_.

He's silent, too much so, and Niko considers yanking the blankets over her head anyway. It can't possibly be any worse than how she feels right now. "Cal -- " she wants to tell him to go, but she can't quite make the words cross her lips.

Instead, she curls tighter around the pillow and lets gravity pull her down onto her side. Forcing the muttered, "Out," past her lips is murder, but she finally does.

He doesn't move. At least, not for another eternal moment, and then he's there. Silently, Calvin pulls the blankets over her, turning out the light as he bends over to kiss her forehead.

His lips linger on her skin for a moment before he turns to go. In the dark, emboldened, Niko's hand darts out to catch his, holding on tight.

1.

There's nothing special about it. Niko's curled up in a chair. Snow's drifting past the window, there's something appropriately emo blasting in her ears, she's got coffee and a book.

Okay, so, possibly there is something special about it. It's a Saturday afternoon at the Veritas Foundation and there's no one trying to kill her. Dorna isn't beating down the door and, best of all, no tests, studying, or online college courses in sight.

She is on break, baby, and the living is easy. She's relaxed, the book doesn't suck, and the coffee is actually drinkable. It's a good day.

Which is why, when Calvin walks into the room, she's nice and doesn't even bitch him out. Instead, she turns a page, shifts her posture, and keeps right on reading.

She blames the music for the part where she doesn't hear him move. When Niko gets up, intending on going for a refill, he's right there. Right in front of her, staring at her with some weird look in his eye, and she sighs. "You're possessed or something, aren't you?" That's it. He totally touched some two thousand year old tooth brush or something and, now, he's possessed.

"Nope," Cal shakes his head and then keeps right on staring. That weird look's starting to freak her out.

"Okay, not possessed," she says. "Then how about you move?"

He shakes his head. "Don't feel like it."

Huffing a breath, she gives him a little shove. "Did you break the internet or something? Because I am so not in the mood to play. I've got a date with a bad romance novel or fifty and you, Cal, aren't really -- "

She had this totally awesome line about Fabio and Cal lined right up, but she can't remember what it's supposed to be. Not with Cal's mouth on hers, his hands on her hips, and oh my god, there's _tongue_.

Niko's tempted to reconsider the whole possession thing, but then Cal makes this noise and, no, he's not possessed. She knows that noise. She's heard it enough over the past few years. Every time he finds something. That moment when the excitement of the discovery, the accomplishment, the _find_ overcomes him and it slips out.

That noise's had a starring role in her fantasies for years now. She's brought herself off more than once to it. She doesn't stand a chance when he makes that noise and, maybe, she thinks he knows it.

One of his hands comes up, curling tight in her hair, and they stumble back onto the couch together. His body presses hers down and, god, Dad is going to kill them.

Thing of it is, though, Niko kind of doesn't care. She just hooks one leg over his, tugging Cal against her.

"I get to know why?" she asks, nipping his lower lip then licking it playfully. He makes that noise again and she laughs a little. If he likes that, he hasn't seen anything yet. "Why now?"

He kisses her again, hands sliding over her body in ways that, yes, her dad will totally kill him for. "Like I'd tell you," he says. "You'd just turn it into a massive ego trip and the last thing we need is your ego getting any bigger than it already -- "

She arches upward, grinding against him. He makes that noise and she laughs. "Just shut up and kiss me, stupid."


End file.
